impuissant
French, noun/ɛ̃.pɥi.sɑ̃/
impuissant is spelled I-M-P-U-I-S-S-A-N-T (10 letters) and appears 2.9 times per million words in written French, the 16,327th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Impuissant is a French masculine noun meaning “impotent (man incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Homme qui ne parvient pas à assurer l’acte sexuel”.
What does impuissant mean in English?
adjective
- 1
powerless
- 2
impotent (incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection)
noun
- 1
masculineimpotent (man incapable of sexual intercourse, often because of an inability to achieve or sustain an erection)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui n’a pas de pouvoir, de moyens pour faire quelque chose. 2. Qui ne peut produire aucun effet. 3. Atteint d’impuissance sexuelle.
noun: 1. Homme qui ne parvient pas à assurer l’acte sexuel. 2. Personne qui n’a pas de pouvoirs, de moyens, pour faire quelque chose.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of impuissant
- impuissante feminine
- impuissants masculine plural
- impuissantes feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce impuissant?
- /ɛ̃.pɥi.sɑ̃/
- \ɛ̃.pɥi.sɑ̃\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to impuissant
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is impuissant in French?
impuissant appears 2.9 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).